Floodlight

ABSTRACT

Floodlight has an optical housing hingedly attached to a separate ballast housing having a built-in slipfitter arrangement. The ballast housing structure provides for mounting a single floodlight on a post top or mounting a plurality of floodlights in stacked arrangement on the post. The ballast housing has an access door with separable hinge connection to the housing. The access door has ballast components mounted thereon and is provided with a door support and lock therefor for holding the door in open position.

United States Patent 1191 Osteen et al.

[ Dec. 2.3, 1975 FLOODLIGHT [75] Inventors: Mitchell M. Osteen, Zirconia;

Myron D. Martin, East Flat Rock, both of NC.

[73] Assignee: General Electric Company, NY.

[22] Filed: Apr. 27, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 247,958

[52] US. Cl 240/73 R; 240/25; 240/84 [51] Int. Cl. F21S 1/00 [58] Field of Search 240/84, 25, 73 R; 16/138, 16/190, 191

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 100,077 2/1870 Semple 16/138 790,483 5/1905 Demartini 16/138 3,156,418 11/1964 Jablonski et al. 240/84 3,243,587 3/1966 Relich 240/73 R 3,264,465 8/1966 Rex 240/84 X 3,459,936 8/1969 Miller 240/73 R 3,562,510 2/1971 Baldwin 240/84 3,596,081 7/1971 Higgins 240/25 Primary Examiner-Richard M. Sheer Assistant ExaminerE. M. OConnor Attorney, Agent, or FirmSidney Greenberg [57] ABSTRACT Floodlight has an optical housing hingedly attached to a separate ballast housing having a built-in slipfitter arrangement. The ballast housing structure provides for mounting a single floodlight on a post top or mounting a plurality of floodlights in stacked arrangement on the post. The ballast housing has an access door with separable hinge connection to the housing. The access door has ballast components mounted thereon and is provided with a door support and lock therefor for holding the door in open position.

2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures .S. a tent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheetlof4 3,928,758

r" Fl 1h US. Patent Dec.23, 1975 Sheet20f4 3,928,758

Sheet 3 of 4 3,928,758

US Patent Dec. 23, 1975 US Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 4 of4 3,928,758

. Mal H FLOODLIGHT The present invention relates to lighting fixtures and particularly to a floodlight or luminaire suitable for area lighting and other lighting applications.

It is an object of the invention to provide a floodlight of the above type utilizing a gaseous discharge'lamp and having a combined ballast housing and floodlight support structure.

It is another object of the invention to provide a floodlight of the above type having separate optical and ballast housings, wherein the ballast housing has a built-in slipfitter for mounting the floodlight in single or multiple stacked arrangement on a support post.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a luminaire ballast housing of the above type enabling ready access to the ballast components therein without disassembling the ballast housing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a luminaire ballast housing of the above type which has an access door arranged to automatically electrically disconnect the ballast components when opened so as to avoid a safety hazard to service personnel.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a luminaire ballast housing of the above type having ballast components mounted on the access door wherein a door lock is provided to safely hold the door in open position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a luminaire ballast housing of the above type wherein the access door is detachably hinged to the housing and wherein means are provided to prevent inadvertent detachment of the hinged access door from the ballas housing when opening the door.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims.

With the above objects in view, the present invention in one of its aspects relates to a lighting fixture comprising, in combination, an optical housing adapted to contain a high intensity discharge lamp, combined ballast housing and fixture support means separate from and attached to the optical housing, the combined housing and support means comprising top, bottom and a plurality of side walls, the bottom wall being formed with an aperture adapted to receive a supporting post,

slipfitter means mounted on the bottom wall within the combined housing means for detachably securing the latter means to the supporting post, one of the side walls having an opening therein, an access door hingedly connected to the one side wall for swinging movement between a closed position covering the opening therein and an open position away from the opening to provide access to the interior of the com-- bined housing and support means, and electrical ballast means for operatingthe lamp mounted on the side of the access door.

The invention will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 and 1a are respectively side elevational and perspective views of a floodlight constructed in accor- FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the combined ballast housing and support for the floodlight with the access door thereof in open position and showing the interior of the ballast housing;

FIG. 4 is a different perspective view of the combined ballast housing and fixture support showing details of the interior and top wall thereof;

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the access door support and lock device in both the open and closed positions of the access door;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the optical support arm for hingedly attaching the floodlight optical housing to the combined ballast housing and fixture support;'and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of the hinge connection between the optical housing and the combined ballast housing and fixture support.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 1a, there is shown a decorative area lighting floodlight or luminaire l embodying the present invention and comprising a box-shaped optical housing 2 containing reflector 3 and lamp 4, which is typically of mercury vapor or other high intensity gaseous discharge type, and closed at its bottom by a transparent closure 5 suitably detachably connected by means (not shown) at the bottom of optical housing 2. The latter housing is hingedly connected near the top of its side wall to a combined ballast housing and fixture support 6 by means of optical support arm 7, as more clearly shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The structure, assembly and function of optical support arm 7 are more fully described in the co-pending application of Osteen, Ser. No. 247,957, filed Apr. 27, 1972, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.

Combined ballast housing and fixture support 6 (also referred to herein for brevity simply as the ballast housing) serves to mount the floodlight on supporting post 8, and has a number of other functions and purposes as disclosed hereinafter.

FIG. 2 shows a pair of floodlights I mounted in vertically stacked position on post 8, an arrangement made possible by virtue of the structure of ballast housing 6 as disclosed herein.

In the illustrated embodiment, ballast housing 6 as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 is an elongated box-like enclosure having a top wall 6a, a bottom wall 6b, and four side walls 60, 6d, 6e and 6f. One side wall 60 is formed with a large rectangular opening facing laterally with respect to optical housing 2, i.e., in a direction generally parallel to side wall 6e, the opening being closed by hinged access door 10.

Bottom wall 6b is formed with an aperture 6g (see FIG. '3) around which a slipfitter 20 is formed to reinner dance with the invention mounted on the top of a supfloodlights in stacked arrangement on the supporting.

post;

into ballast housing 6 through aperture 6g. The annular top ledge 20a of the slipfitter rests on top of post 8, as

seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. Adjusting screws 22 on ledge 20a contacting the top edge of hollow post 8 serve to adjust the vertical alignment of ballast housing 6 on post 8. Set screws 23 on the side of slipfitter 20 clamp the fixture to post 8.

To provide for stacking a number of floodlights on the same post as shown in FIG. 2, top wall 6a and bottom wall 6b of each ballast housing 6 are provided with bolt holes at their corners for receiving suitable bolts or screws to fasten the stacked ballast housings together. As will be evident, as many as four floodlights oriented at (or two floodlights at to each other may be thus mounted in verticallystacked arrangement on support post 8. In the stacked arrangement, the slipfitter 20 of only the lowermost ballast housing 6 rests on and is clamped to the top portion of post 8, with the remaining ballast housings 6 being arranged one on top of another in vertical alignment and secured together by the fastening means described above.

In a preferred embodiment, top wall 6a of ballast housing 6 is formed with a central aperture (see FIG. 4) covered with a transparent window 6h, so that ambient light may reach a photoelectric control unit (not shown) which may, if desired, be arranged in the upper interior portion of ballast housing 6 for controlling the operation of the fioodlights, as well understood in the art.

Mounted on the inner surface of access door 10 are electrical ballast components including capacitor 11 and transformer 12 electrically connected to plug 13 mounted adjacent thereto on door 10. Electric receptacle 14 is mounted near the bottom of side wall 6d inside ballast housing 6 in position to receive the prongs of plug 13 for automatically making an electrical connection between ballast components l1, l2 and lamp 4 when access door 10 is swung to closed position. Electrical plug 13 and ballast components ll, 12 are connected to lamp 4 by suitable conductors (not shown) which may pass from the interior of ballast housing 6 to the interior of optical housing 2 via the hollow interior of optical support arm 7 (see FIG. 7). Attached to rear side wall 6f is terminal board 16 at which electrical innerconnection is made between supply leads (not shown) entering the interior of ballast housing 6 through hollow support post 8 and electrical leads (not shown) connected to receptacle 14.

Due to the relatively heavy weight of the ballast components and other elements mounted on access door 10, which may amount to as much as 30 pounds or more, it is desirable to provide a reliable device for holding door 10 in open position to enable servicing operations to be carried out with a minimum of hazard to the operator. For this purpose there is provided in accordance with the invention a combined door support and lock in the form of a relatively stiff spring-like arm 25 having at its outer end a flange 25a secured to the inner side of access door 10 and about which the main portion of arm 25 is somewhat bendable in lateral directions. Near its inner end spring arm 25 is formed with an upset portion or catch 2512 (see FIGS. 3 and such that, as access door is swung upwardly to a substantially horizontal open position, catch b drags along the inner surface of side wall 6d in yieldable engagement therewith until it reaches and automatically snaps across the front vertical edge of wall 6d so as to securely engage the same, thus locking access door 10 in the open position. To close access door 10, it is necessary for the operator to first lift the door slightly until catch 25b clears housing wall 6d and'then bend arm 25 inwardly so that catch 25]) clears wall 6d, and then lower access door 10 to closed position. With access door 10 closed, support arm 25 is in an inoperative position lying along wall 6d, as shown in interrupted lines in FIG. 5. Door 10 may be secured in closed position by means of screw 28 or the like passing through aligned holes at the bottom of access door 10 and the ballast'housing wall below the opening (see FIG. 4).

Access door 10 is hingedly connected'at itstop to wall 60 of the ballast housing by means of spaced arcuate hooks 10b co-acting with hinge pins 26 arranged in spaced recesses in wall 60. The arrangement is such that access door 10 cannot be disengaged from hinge pins 26 until it is raised to about 120 from its closed position. In such raised position, access door 10 may be readily detached from ballast housing 6. In order to prevent the operator from inadvertently raising access door 10 too high and unintentionally detaching the door from housing 6, a stop 27 is provided projecting inwardly from wall 6d against which the inner end of door support arm 25 abuts when access door 10 is raised to about thus preventing further lifting of door 10 unless support arm 25 is deliberately forced inwardly to clear stop 27.

While the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood that numerous modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without actually departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to cover all such equivalent variations as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A lighting fixture comprising, in combination, an optical housing adapted to contain lamp means, combined ballast housing and fixture support means separate from and attached to said optical housing, said combined housing and support means comprising top, bottom and a plurality of side walls, said bottom wall formed with an aperture adapted to receive a supporting post, one of said side walls having an opening therein, an access door hingedly connected to said one side wall for swinging movement between a closed position covering said opening therein and an open position away from said opening to provide access to the interior of said combined housing and support means, electrical ballast means for operating the lamp means mounted on the inner side of said access door, and combined door support and locking means secured to said access door and co-acting with an adjacent one of said side walls for holding said access door in open position, said combined door support and locking means comprising an arm member secured at one end to said access door projecting inwardly therefrom and being normally urged in yieldable engagement with said adjacent side wall, said arm member having a catch portion near its other end adapted to snap over and engage the outer edge of said adjacent side wall when said access door is swung to open position, so as to hold said access door in said open position.

2. A lighting fixture as defined in claim 1, said access door being in separable hinged engagement at its top with said one side wall above said opening therein and being detachable therefrom when swung a predetermined distance beyond said open position, and stop means on said adjacent side wall co-acting with said other end of said arm member for preventing movement of said access door substantially beyond said open position thereof, said arm member being yieldably movable inwardly of said adjacent side wall and said stop means to permit movement of said access door said predetermined distance beyond said open position for detaching the same from said combined housing and support means or movement of said access door to closed position covering said opening.

=l l l 

1. A lighting fixture comprising, in combination, an optical housing adapted to contain lamp means, combined ballast housing and fixture support means separate from and attached to said optical housing, said combined housing and support means comprising top, bottom and a plurality of side walls, said bottom wall formed with an aperture adapted to receive a supporting post, one of said side walls having an opening therein, an access door hingedly connected to said one side wall for swinging movement between a closed position covering said opening therein and an open position away from said opening to provide access to the interior of said combined housing and support means, electrical ballast means for operating the lamp means mounted on the inner side of said access door, and combined door support and locking means secured to said access door and co-acting with an adjacent one of said side walls for holding said access door in open position, said combined door support and locking means comprising an arm member secured at one end to said access door projecting inwardly therefrom and being normally urged in yieldable engagement with said adjacent side wall, said arm member having a catch portion near its other end adapted to snap over and engage the outer edge of said adjacent side wall when said access door is swung to open position, so as to hold said access door in said open position.
 2. A lighting fixture as defined in claim 1, said access door being in separable hinged engagement at its top with said one side wall above said opening therein and being detachable therefrom when swung a predetermined distance beyond said open position, and stop means on said adjacent side wall co-acting with said other end of said arm member for preventing movement of said access door substantially beyond said open position thereof, said arm member being yieldably movable inwardly of said adjacent side wall and said stop means to permit movement of said access door said predetermined distance beyond said open position for detaching the same from said combined housing and support means or movement of said access door to closed position covering said opening. 